Tag Archive: Syria

Syria is using heavy weapons against its citizens to crush the uprisings and killing civilians in the process. This was the excuse to attack Libya. So my question is “Why aren’t air and missile strikes ordered against Syria? Perfect opportunity to seperate Syria from Iran and make life more difficult for Hezbollah in Lebanon. So this is why I do not believe the attack on Libya was to “prevent civilian casualties”. If this was the case then the same philosophy should be used for Syria. I believe the Europeans want to get their hands on all that North African oil!

It is being reported that in the last few weeks Syrian security forces have shot and killed over 200people in the last 4 weeks. Since the uprisings have occurred in North Africa the Syrian people have taken to the streets demanding that Syrian President Assad step down and allow democratic reform. His response is to shoot people in the streets so sounds like to me NATO needs to start drawing up plans to conduct missile and air strikes to save the Syrian people from being massacred like the excuse we were all given for the Libyan operation. However, even though protestors are being shot and killed there will be no intervention to save the Syrian protestors because they are on their own.

But think about this, what better opportunity to get rid of another antagonist in the middle east? I say this only for the fact of the lame excuse for attacking Libya. We could get rid of a lot of problems by toppling the Syrian regime. For one Iran would lose a key ally on the northern front of Israel and a conduit for weapons to their patron in Lebanon which is Hezbollah. A big obstacle to middle east peace could be removed and serious discussions on settling this matter once and for all. But this will not happen!! The status quo will remain because to me no money or profit can be made by taking out Syria. North Africa is sitting on huge oil reserves and this needs to be tapped and Qadhafi must go because he is holding up the progress of getting to these reserves.

I just get tired of being given excuses for attacking countries like Libya so we can “save their people”. Really… so we can “save them”!! Who is going to save the people of this country (US) when gas is $5.00 a gallon, food prices keep rising and no jobs that pay enough for people to survive. It is all smoke and mirrors when these things go on and I don’t believe a word of it!!

In the last week and Israeli General was quote as saying that ” if Hezbollah gains control of the Lebanese government and Hezbollah initiates any hostilities then all of Lebanon will be a target, not just Hezbollah positions”. This seems quite reasonable to me considering the fact that Hezbollah is in fact taking over the Lebanese government with the help of Syria and Iran. As you look at the General’s statement he is sending a signal to Lebanon that letting Hezbollah run the country is a very bad idea and especially if Hezbollah is allowed to attack Israel from Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s gradual control over Lebanon has been taking place over many years especially with their possible involvement in the assassination of the popular Lebanese prime minister at the time Rafik Harari in 2005. To further confirm these facts a United Nations Tribunal is on the verge of handing down indictments to top Hezbollah operatives involved in the assassination. Apparently, Mr. Harari had to be taken out because he was taking Lebanon in a different direction than what Syria or Iran wanted.

Now it has been reported that France will sell Lebanon 100 anti-tank missiles which are obviously to be used against Israeli Tanks in the next war. It is puzzling why France would do this as this will just reinforce the Israeli position of attacking all of Lebanon in the next war. It should be obvious to any observer that Iran needs to control Lebanon so as to have a staging area for attacks on Israel from the north and control of Gaza so as to be able to harass Israel from the south. There is one player in this picture that keeps this pot at the boiling point and that is Iran. If Iran is no longer in the picture then most of the above problems are solved.

That is why I support any kind of destabilization efforts that are going on against Iran at this time because their ultimate goal is to take down Israel and all this would do is engulf the world in a war that is not needed and unnecessary.

A recent article that I came across indicated that Russia was selling Syria advanced anti-ship missiles call the P-800 which are supersonic cruise missiles. Now to those of you that are not very good at geography I will explain why this is odd the Syrians would need advanced anti ship missiles. To the west of Syria is Lebanon which is on the Mediterranean sea and to the south of Lebanon is Israel in which they share a border. Syria does have some access the Mediterranean sea but it is well north of Israel and Israeli patrol boats do not patrol north of Lebanon near the Syrian and Turkish border.

So the only logical conclusion is the Russians are selling these missiles to Syria so at some point they can be transferred to Hizbullah for use in the next war with Israel. In the previous war Hizbullah used a surface-to-sea missile to hit an Israeli ship so it seems Hizbullah through Syria maybe getting their hands on more advanced missile systems. The signs are all around with these types of stories of Hizbullah arming in Southern Lebanon, Syria obtaining advanced weapons, and Hamas trying to get their hands on more weapons indicating the preparations for war are taking place.

I had posted about Turkey changing its policies and siding with nations such as Syria, Iran and the terror group Hamas after a log relationship with Israel as one of their key allies. It was reported that Turkish Prime Minister Edrogan said “Hamas was a resistance movement fighting for their land and not a terror organization”. He indicated Hamas was elected which is true as I remember the Bush administration had pushed for Democratic elections in which the Palestinian people voted for Hamas and they won. So okay, they won and would have been allowed to govern after Israel withdrew from Gaza but they began to fire rockets over the border so I still believe they are a terror organization and not a resistance movement.

I know Turkey has elected leaders who adhere to more Islamic policies but it is puzzling that in the last few years they have decided to side with Iran and Syria against Israel even though they are still part of NATO they continue to pursue this path. I think another reason is because Turkey has wanted to join the European Union and has been rejected several times so maybe they have decided to say “screw it” we will change course and try a different direction. Another reason they feel confident could be the diminishing power or influence of the United States. Obviously, as other nations emerge like India, China, Brazil the lone superpower in the world has less influence on other countries and I believe this is beginning to happen.

There will continue to be a realignment of these nations, but I believe the are Arab countries of the Persia Gulf such as UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia will continue to side with the U.S. and while they want to see a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian they will not openly change sides to Iran or Syria. This will be a constant chess match in this area for the forseeable future.

I had posted previously about a new alignment in the Middle East with Russia emerging as a new power broker and aligning themselves with the Islamic countries. I just located several articles to prove my point. One states “Russia, Turkey becoming strategic partners-Medvedev (President of Russia) and “Medvedev looks to bring Syrian back into sphere of influence”. I have posted the links to the articles as well.

All nations look out for their own interest but as it was in the cold war when the Soviet Union sided with the Arab nations against Israel you now have the same situation going on again with Russia building alliances with Iran, Syria, and now Turkey. I believe the end game is to deal with Israel once and for all in the minds of these countries. Look at the current U.S. position in regard to Jerusalem which as always been the jewish capital. The U.S. is putting pressure on Israel to give the Palestinians East Jerusalem as their capital. It is sad to say but until one side is utterly defeated all this drama will not end. Just look at the example of North Korea, they were not totally defeated in the Korean war and look at the problems with that nation today. If they had been defeated back in the 1950’s then maybe there would not be the problem of them developing ballistic missiles and sinking South Korean Naval Ships!!

I have made several posts about Israel’s raid on the so-called “humanitarian flotilla”. As more light is shed about the activists on board we come to find out they are a Turkish charity group with possible ties to terror groups and this flotilla has the support of the Turkish Government. To me this is a very troubling development that Turkey is becoming heavily involved in trying to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian issue in this way. Since the last Turkish election the government has become more Islamic and appears to be supporting countries such as Iran, Syria, and the Hamas organization.

What makes it even more troubling is that Turkey is part of NATO and all countries in this organization should have a common goal, but appears Turkey has their own agenda in the case of recent events involving Israel and its attack on the flotilla. I have heard reports that Turkey may even send its own Naval ships to protect the next flotilla of ships to Gaza. I think these countries do this order to get Israel to respond because they know this is what Israel will do and then these countries, UN and others make hay out of this and condemn Israel.

I see the following scenario developing in the Middle East; Turkey will continue to drift away from the U.S. and Israel in regard to its polices and will become closer allies of Syria and Iran. Turkey may do this to grow their influence and power like they had in the days of the Ottoman Empire. Also, Russia will back these nations with support and weapons as they do now and will continue to put pressure on Israel. I believe some major event will ensue where the U.S. tells Israel we cannot support them and then these nations will build some kind of coalition against Israel, kind of like what the Bush’s did in Desert Storm and the current Iraq war. This coalition will issue some kind of ultimatum that Israel will have to refuse and then launch some kind attack.

All this fighting and agitation has been going since Israel became a nation in 1948 and some of these nations and peoples around the world are thinking the only way to solve it is to remove Israel and I am afraid this is how some will try to accomplish it.

In my last post I shared about the report of Syria allegedly providing Hezbollah Scud missiles. If you are unaware, Hezbollah is a oraginization in Lebanon with some defacto support from the Lebanese government and considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. The article I have linked says Hezbollah admits receiving the Scud missiles but that Israel has blown the incident out of proportion because the parts are “old and unusable”. My question is; why does Hezbollah need missiles? They are not a country or government that is buying weapons for defense of a sovereign nation? Hezbollah says they have purchased the missiles to defend against an Israeli attack. If Lebanon believed they needed weapons for defense then they should be the ones who by the weapons, not some organization or group within their country. To me this would be like Florida wanting to buy its own weapons to make sure Georgia didn’t attack them!! If this happened all hell would break loose, but Hezbollah does it and barely a peep!!

The article also points out that Israel came close to attacking a convoy from Syria delivering these missiles but called it off at the last-minute. It is these kind of situations that will lead to some kind of war and history proves this out. Just keep letting these kind of countries get by with this kind of thing without any consequences and when they think the time is right they will strike and then you will have everyone saying “Why didn’t we stop this??, Why didn’t we know what was going on??. Our enemies are telegraphing what they are doing we only have to pay attention to the signals!!

It has been reported in the last week that Syria has supplied Hezbollah with Scud missiles that have the capability to hit all of Israel. I know that Syria and Israel are enemies but I don’t believe these missiles would have been given to Hezbollah unless this was approved by Iran since they are the major backers of Hezbollah. This is a continuing disturbing development as I believe that Iran through its proxies; Hezbollah to the North in Lebanon and Hamas to the South in the Gaza strip are preparing for another war. It has been widely reported the war Israel fought with Hezbollah in 2006 was a stalemate at best and because of this it gives Hezbollah and Iran the fortitude to try to push for another war to try and take Israel out for good.

But I think Iran should not underestimate what Israel may do. I mean Israel has a history of making a pre-emptive strike and I believe if they think these Scuds pose a threat Israel will strike in Lebanon and this time I believe they would also hit Damascus. Maybe not pre-emptively but I have read in the Jerusalem Post that Assad and his government in Syria would be attacked if they continue with this support of terror groups in Lebanon.

Seems to me the powers in our government and the western nations see this going on and have the intelligence reports to confirm this and the common folk only have what they read in the news!! I am not a pessimist but I see this ending very badly in a war because you can see what his happening if you just pay attention!! Ahmadinejad may be bluffing in order to provoke Israel into a pre-emptive strike which would allow him to rally possibly the arabs and terror groups to attack Israel. Because after all Ahmadinejad believes in the return of the Mahdi and he must help usher in this return.

I remember when the Ayatollah came to power in Iran during the Carter Presidency and these people have been at war with us ever since. It is no coincidence these terror groups all began to spring up after 1979!! Seems like to me Iran is behind all of this and I think they are playing a dangerous game that could come out very badly for them. The article referenced is listed below:

Israeli officials say Syria gives Hezbollah Scuds

AP – FILE – In this file photo taken Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006, a plane releases its payload to extinguish a fire …

JERUSALEM – Israeli defense officials said Wednesday they believe Hezbollah has Scud missiles that could hit all of Israel, a day after Israel’s president accused Syria of supplying the Lebanese guerrillas with the weapons for the first time.

Israeli officials say the introduction of Scuds could alter the strategic balance with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006.

President Shimon Peres, speaking in Paris, charged that Syria is playing a double game, talking about peace, while “it is delivering Scuds to Hezbollah to threaten Israel,” according to a statement from his office.

The remarks by Peres, whose position is largely ceremonial, went beyond public assessments of senior Israeli defense figures. He gave no details.

In Washington, the Syrian Embassy dismissed the allegations and accused Israel of trying to divert attention from questions about Israel’s nuclear program. Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear arms, though it does not confirm or deny this.

“If we are to discuss armament in our region, we should begin with Israel’s massive nuclear weapons arsenal and continuous arming with top-caliber U.S. weapons, which helps perpetuate its occupation of our territories,” said embassy spokesman Ahmed Salkini. “The timing also indicates a sinister attempt to undermine any U.S.-Syrian rapprochement.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley expressed concern but did not confirm that Hezbollah now has Scud missiles.

“Regardless of the issue of Scuds, we remain concerned about the provision of increasingly sophisticated weaponry to parties, to Hezbollah, and this is an issue that we continue to raise with Syria,” he said, adding that such weapons endanger Lebanon’s security.

Some Scud missiles have a range of hundreds of miles (kilometers) and could reach any target in Israel if fired from Lebanon. They can carry an explosive warhead of up to 1 ton.

The defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence assessment, stopped short of stating unequivocally that Scuds are now deployed in Lebanon.

They said tensions have risen along Israel’s border with Lebanon after media reports that Hezbollah was seeking the missiles, and they believed Hezbollah now has them.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement urging the public to remain calm, but said “the introduction of systems that disturb the balance endanger stability and calm.”

Israel charges that most of Hezbollah’s weapons, including rockets, come through neighboring Syria, which is a main sponsor of Hezbollah, along with Iran. But Peres’ statement was the first time Israel has publicly accused Damascus of providing Scuds.

At the U.N., deputy U.S. ambassador Alejandro Wolff alluded to the reported transfer of Scuds from Syria to Hezbollah. “We are increasingly concerned about the sophistication of the weaponry being transferred,” he said.

President Barack Obama is interested in restoring U.S. relations with Syria, frozen after charges from the previous administration that Damascus was aiding anti-American forces in neighboring Iraq.

Some Republican senators have said they may hold up the confirmation of Robert Ford, the Obama administration’s nominee to be the first U.S. ambassador to Syria in five years, over the concerns.

Hezbollah pelted Israel with nearly 4,000 unguided Katyusha rockets during the 2006 war, causing widespread damage and dozens of casualties in Israel’s north. Scud missiles have several times the range and explosive firepower of Katyusha rockets and would pose a much more serious threat.

In 1991, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq struck Israel with 39 Scud missiles as the U.S. and its allies invaded his country. Fourteen Israelis were killed during the conflict.

Israel has deployed an anti-missile system called Arrow, designed to intercept missiles from Iran and possibly Syria. It has successfully tested a system to stop shorter-range missiles and rockets like Scuds and Katyushas, as well as homemade rockets fired from Gaza, but it is not yet operational.

Boaz Ganor, an expert from Herzliya’s Interdisciplinary Center, said Scud missiles in the hands of Hezbollah could be a game-changer, not only because of their potential for damage.

“In Syrian hands, it was rationally administered, and now it’s not clear that in the hands of Hezbollah it will be administered rationally,” he said.

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Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the U.N. contributed to this report.